The Hitmakers

If you're the one who complains about how techno and dubstep have tucked themselves in the sphere of pop music, let me tell ya: it's nothing new. If anything, you should list British music producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman as the men responsible for the use of underground rhythms with a certain pop sensibility.

From 1984 to 1993, the trio scored over 100 Top 40 hits for acts like Kylie Minogue, Dead Or Alive, Bananarama, Hazell Dean, Rick Astley, Big Fun, Jason Donovan, Sinitta, Sonia, Donna Summer, Cliff Richard, Princess, Mel & Kim, Samantha Fox...and the list goes on and on and on. Their perfect pop, a mix of Hi-NRG-influenced sound and Motown romanticism, was widely accepted and considered as "The Sound Of A Bright Young Britain". But with the changing of the times and the pressures of delivering nothing but surefire hit singles, SAW was no more and left a grand legacy in its heels.

Last August, British TV network ITV recaptured all the best and worst moments of SAW in one amazing 46-minute documentary entitled "The Hit Factory: The Stock Aitken & Waterman Story". In case you have seen it, and even if you haven't, here it is. Think of this as your sunday treat!